Asia markets suffer tech jitters; China plays its own game

— Asian shares were mostly downbeat on Monday as profit taking hit some high-flying Japanese tech groups, though China remained well supported by optimism over its homegrown artificial intelligence (AI) ventures.

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A holiday in the US made for thin trading, with Wall Street and European share futures managing minor gains after retreating on Friday.

The dollar and bonds were under some pressure ahead of a busy week for US data which includes surveys of manufacturing and services, and a range of labor numbers culminating in the August payrolls report on Friday.

Median forecasts are for an increase of 75,000, though estimates range widely from zero to +110,000 due to the uncertainty caused by July’s surprisingly weak report, while the jobless rate is seen ticking up to 4.3%.

Analysts also cautioned the August report has shown a bias to undershoot forecasts over the past decade. A result in line or softer would cement market expectations for the US Federal Reserve to cut rates at its meeting on Sept. 17, which futures imply is a near 90% probability.